Month: May 2022

Apple is celebrating Accessibility Awareness Day throughout the week, with fresh content for Apple fans of all abilities. This week’s offerings include Apple Music, Apple Maps and Fitness+.

More accessibility in Apple Stores

SignTime, which is an on-demand sign language service in Apple Stores, is coming to Canada on May 19. Apple Support and Apple Store customers can utilize this service to communicate with an interpreter through American Sign Language (ASL). SignTime is already available in the US using ASL, in the UK using British Sign Language (BSL), and France using French Sign Language (LSF).

Apple Stores across the world are hosting live sessions to demonstrate how customers can use accessibility features in their iPhones this week. This how-to video is also available on Apple support ‘s Facebook page.

Shortcuts for Mac and Apple Watch

Additionally this week, an Accessibility Assistant shortcut is coming to the Shortcuts app on Mac and Apple Watch. The shortcut allows users to choose the accessibility feature they prefer.

Workouts for wheelchair users

Bakari Williams,

Apple Fitness+ Trainer uses ASL to emphasize accessibility features that are available for all users. These include Audio Hints which are descriptive verbal cues to assist low-vision or blind users. Time to Walk episodes are becoming “Time to Walk or Push.” Time to Run episodes are becoming “Time to Run or Push” for wheelchair users. Also, Fitness+ trainers will use ASL in every workout and meditation, with all videos featuring closed captioning in six languages. Users of different fitness levels will be able to participate in modifications made by trainers.

Get outside with Apple Maps

Apple Maps has a new guide, Parks Access for All, helping users find accessible features, programs, and services to explore parks in the US. This new guide was made in partnership with Gallaudet University, a prominent university for Deaf, Deafblind, and hard of hearing students. Apple Maps also features businesses who are committed to the Deaf community, something Tim Cook spoke about at Gallaudet’s commencement speech last week.

Focus on sounds with Apple Music

Checkout “Saylist” playlists on Apple Music, a collection where each playlists focuses on a different sound. While this tool is made for someone practicing vocal sounds or working in speech therapy, anyone can listen.

Additional features

Apple TV+ will feature its most popular shows and movies about people with disabilities. There will also be collections of the accessibility community’s well-known actors like Marlee Matlin from CODA, Lauren Ridloff of Eternals, Selma Blair of Introducing, Selma Blair, and more. The App Store is also highlighting accessibility-focused apps as well as stories from developers. Apple Books has a new collection featuring stories from people with disabilities and Apple Podcasts will spotlight ways technology is advancing accessibility.

More on Accessibility Awareness Day:

See the full press releases by Apple for more information about how it is celebrating Accessibility Awareness Day.

• Apple unveils new accessibility features coming this year: Door Detection, Live Captions, Apple Watch Mirroring, more

Spring has sprung and summer is just around the corner; and now you can embrace the sunshine with a little virtual trip across Italy. In its latest update, Microsoft Flight Simulator has further refined two areas: Italy and the island country Malta. Now, players can view the countries and all they have to offer in greater detail.

The patch, which is Microsoft Flight Simulator’s ninth update, is live now and free to download. The developers added an entire suite of graphical improvements to over 20 cities across the two countries, including Rome, Naples, Venice, and Milan as well as the city-state of The Vatican. It’s so detailed you can almost smell the fresh cappuccinos!

The update also comes with four “handcrafted” airports: Palermo Airport (LICJ) in Sicily, Sondrio Airport (LILO) in the southern Tyrol, Marina di Campo Airport (LIRJ) on Elba Island, and Bolanzo Airport (LIPB) in the southern Tyrol, along with enhanced details in 100 other airports. Italy is chock-full of historical landmarks so the update will bring 105 points of interest across Italy and Malta.

The developers continue to release improved versions of various regions. In March, the team released graphical enhancements to regions of Iberia, which included countries like Spain and Portugal.

To unlock the new content all you need to do is make sure you have the most up-to-date version of the game, download the World Update Nine, and then you’re set to explore Italy!

Popular health device and smartwatch maker Withings is out with its latest wearable. The ScanWatch Horizon comes with a classic stainless steel diver design with smart health, activity, and heart tracking, 30-day battery life, 100m water resistance, Apple Health integration, and more.

Withings announced the ScanWatch Horizon launch today in a press release saying “it is the first hybrid smartwatch inspired by the luxury diver watch tradition to deliver state-of-the-art health technology.”

ScanWatch Horizon features

• Clinically validated detection of atrial fibrillation by ECG
• Heart Rate scan every 10 minutes using a PPG sensor
• Clinically validated SpO2
• Automatic activity tracking (walking, running, swimming, distance, and calories burned)
• Training mode with up to 30 activities (measurement of distance, pace, and altitude)
• Fitness level assessment with VO2 Max
• Sleep monitoring (length, quality, sleep phases)
• Smart smartphone notifications
• Altimeter records floors traveled
• Water-resistant up to 10 ATM (100 meters)
• Up to 30 days battery life

The wearable is made from 316L stainless steel, uses sapphire glass for the display, and includes a 5-year warranty.

ScanWatch Horizon, like its products, has robust Apple Health integration. This automatically imports all of your activity, heart rate, and sleep data into iPhone.

ScanWatch Horizon is priced at $499 and comes in blue and green finishes. It’s available now from Amazon, Best Buy, direct from Withings, and more.

Ben Lovejoy, a colleague of mine, previously reviewed the ScanWatch original. You can find all details about comparing the hybrid smartwatch to Apple Watch :

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• Apple Watch Diary: A comparison with the Withings ScanWatch

9to5Mac’s Take

I think it is nice to have more smartwatches on the market. Withings has an excellent reputation for producing high-quality devices with advanced health functions.

While this probably won’t be an Apple Watch substitute for most, it offers a different and compelling set of features with a classic stainless steel diver design, 5-year warranty, 30-day battery life, and more.

One last thought, sleep tracking may not be the most comfortable with a solid steel watch, but if you’re used to wearing something like this, maybe you won’t mind.

Dying light offered an exclusive glimpse at their next project in an update Tuesday. This was as Techland tries to increase development for the untitled fantasy role-playing games. The studio also offered a glimpse at who’s developing that new game, a team composed of talent behind CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher games and Cyberpunk 2077.

The announcements by Techland, similar to those made recently by Funcom and Blizzard Entertainment were similar to the ones from Crytek and Crytek. There is little information about this new project. One piece of concept art shows an old fantasy setting, which looks quite different from Dying Light.

But Techland is hoping to lure talent to the studio to help develop the open-world action-RPG, in part by revealing who’s already working on it. That list of names includes narrative director Karolina Stachyra, who wrote The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt‘s Bloody Baron questline (among other The Witcher narrative contributions), narrative lead Arkadiusz Borowik (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings), open world director Bartosz Ochman (Cyberpunk 2077), lead animator Kevin Quaid (Horizon Zero Dawn), lead game designer David McClure (Deathloop), and creative director Mario Maltezos (Mad Max, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time).

In a statement released alongside the concept art and recruitment notice, Techland CEO Pawel Marchewka said of the project, “Our ambition is to introduce a brand new IP that is vastly different from what we have been doing for the past several years. We want to create a fully next-gen experience. We are creating a new fantasy adventure set in an expansive open world. This is fueled by our skillsets and years of experience as a group, filled with passion and new ideas. While we cannot share more details about this project now, we’re all truly invested in it and looking forward to showing it to gamers when the time is right.”

Marchewka noted in the same statement that Techland plans to continue to support its latest game, Dying Light 2 Stay Human, “for at least 5 years, with its scope and size matching, if not exceeding, what we have provided our community with during post-launch support for its predecessor.”

If you thought using Apple Pay was easy, a Mastercard Biometric Checkout Program will let you pay simply by smiling at the payment terminal.

The company says that the initiative will be rolled out globally, starting with trials in Brazil …

Background

Banks and finance companies are understandably keen on using biometrics to authorize card payments. Payment fraud tripled to over $30B over the past decade, and the law in most countries leaves card companies on the hook for all or most of it.

Electronic wallet services like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay cut risks for card companies, but also incur costs. Banks have for many years been trying to get access to the NFC chip in the iPhone and Apple Watch, so they can offer cardholders the option to use their own apps instead so far without success.

Even if they succeeded, it’s unlikely iPhone users would swap the convenience of an all-in-one app for a bunch of individual ones.

But if card networks like Mastercard and Visa can enable people to make biometric payments with even greater convenience than Apple Pay, they finally stand a chance of cutting Apple out of the loop.

Mastercard Biometric Checkout Program

Mastercard announced the program today.

No more fumbling for your phone or hunting for your wallet when you have your hands full – the next generation of in-person payments will only need a quick smile or wave of your hand. The trusted technology that uses your face or fingerprint to unlock your phone can now be used to help consumers speed through the checkout. With Mastercard’s new Biometric Checkout Program, all you will need is yourself […]

Once enrolled, there is no need to slow down the checkout queue searching through their pockets or bag. Consumers can simply check the bill and smile into a camera or wave their hand over a reader to pay. The new technology ensures a fast and secure checkout experience, whilst also empowering consumers to choose how they want to pay.

For merchants, the benefits are also considerable, from faster transaction times and shorter lines to greater hygiene and heightened security. The payments system can be integrated with loyalty programs and personalized recommendations to help consumers find products they might be interested in based on previous purchases.

The company says that enrollment will be easy, either in-store or at home using an app.

The initial pilot is a tiny one – operating at just five supermarkets in Sao Paolo, Brazil – but Mastercard plans to roll out the service globally.

Mastercard is working with partners including NEC, Payface, Aurus, PaybyFace, PopID and Fujitsu Limited to ensure the launch and scale of these types of new checkout capability around the globe

You can of course use Face ID on your iPhone to authorize an Apple Pay transaction, but what’s new here is that you can don’t need any device or card on you – your face alone authorizes the payment.

Would you switch from Apple Pay to smiling at a payment terminal? Let us know in the comments.

The developer behind Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden revealed its next game, Miasma Chronicles, during a livestream held by publisher 505 Games on Tuesday. The Bearded Ladies, a Swedish studio, describe Miasma Chronicles as an adventure in tactical combat set in post-apocalyptic America.